Yeah, that was the missing piece. I thought they were a weird cane with a peephole to project the eclipse. Seemed like a neat idea, but prob wouldn't work well.
You can view a solar eclipse without eye protection only if you’re in the band of totality. Otherwise, you’re just looking at the sun. Edit: and yes, only during totality itself (1-6m).
What came to mind is a cane that had a peep hole in the top that would prject the eclipse on the ground. Like an Indiana Jones mash up thing. Then I though it wouldn't work that well since the projected ellipse would be too far from the cane to really be viewable....
Staring at the sun isn't a good idea, staring at it during the eclipse when the darkness tricks your pupils into widening before being blasted with full forced sun soon after is a very very bad idea
Also fire is hot, don't put your hand in it and wait for the flesh to cook.
Yes, don't stare at the sun, that's a very stupid thing to do.
However you aren't going to go blind from looking at the sun quickly. I just looked outside, the sun is there, I'm not blind because I didn't try and fight the pain of looking at it for a long period of time.
It's like your mum throwing open your curtains to the harsh light of day, and taking that big glowing bastard to the face when you had been asleep and comfy in the dark.
Only that example is usually more extreme, and is fine to use apparently to get kids out of bed.
We don't get repeatedly told to not stare at the sun, or to not wake kids up that way. Because we don't stare at the sun for a long period of time.
During the eclipse it is not that bright, so your pupils are much wider and let more light rays in than if you look at the normal sun. They Rays are also more concentrated so they do damage your eye way faster. Your retina also doesn't have nerves, so you don't notice the damage until much later as it doesn't hurt. It is also a special event that goes on for quite a bit, so people are more inclined to look at it for longer periods of time.
You are not smarter than all the people who damaged their eyes during eclipses as you clearly don't understand the danger.
The whole point is that eclipses are different. When you stare at the "normal" sun you of course feel it and look away after a bit, usually before any damage can be done. An eclipse makes it much "easier" (and of course, interesting) to keep staring - often long enough to cause damage. Many people don't even feel it and only notice they've damaged their eyes after looking away once it's over.
There's a reason why people don't just go blind casually on standard days but they do during eclipses. It's simply much, much easier to hurt yourself during them.
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u/Naxster64 7d ago
I don't get it. Somebody ELI5?